Are they safe in there? - patient safety and trainees in the practice.

BACKGROUND

Due to the projected increase of medical graduates and general practice registrars, a rapid increase in new trainers and practices is required. The resulting mix of relatively inexperienced trainers and trainees makes the examination of the important question of patient safety even more pertinent.

OBJECTIVE

To describe practical techniques that look beyond the door of the closed consulting room to detect unconscious incompetence in trainees.

DISCUSSION

Trainees can both be conscious of their incompetence and ask for help, or unconscious of their incompetence. Many articles have been written on teaching trainees who ask for help, but it is the trainee who does not ask for help who may be at most risk of serious problems, and therefore compromise patient safety. Formative assessment and feedback should be used to empower trainees as self-regulated learners. There are seven principles of good feedback practice that help develop self-regulation. This article provides practical teaching tips for supervisors in general practice.